Info on 'Give Me Jesus'

Subject: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Whistleworks
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 10:24 AM

Dear Friends,

I am in the middle of making a new CD and came across this lovely spiritual tune called "Give Me Jesus". The liner notes on the CD from Fernando Ortega say simply say "Traditional American". Can anyone expand on this or tell me more about it?

As always, I trust in the power of The Mudcat.

Thanks in advance,

Bob Pegritz

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Sorcha
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 11:09 AM

There is some information in this thread. Be sure to read the whole thread, as they are talking about 2 songs......

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 11:58 AM

A note on the spiritual, "Give Me Jesus," with one additional verse, has been posted to the thread indicated by Sorcha. It may be pre-Civil War. The song about Freedom was derived from it.

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: masato sakurai
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 11:58 AM

(1) The Jubilee Singers version

GIVE ME JESUS

1.
O when I come to die,
O when I come to die,
O when I come to die,
Give me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You may have all this world,
Give me Jesus.

2.
In the morning when I rise,
In the morning when I rise, &c.

3.
Dark midnight was my cry,
Dark midnight was my cry, &c.

4.
I heard the mourner say,
I heard the mourner say, &c.

(J.B.T. Marsh, The Story of the Jubilee Singers; With Their Songs, 1880; reprint AMS, 1971, p. 140)

Andrew Ward uses a phrase from this song as his book title: Dark Midnight when I Rise: The Story of the Jubilee Singers, Who Introduced the World to the Music of Black America.

(2) From Howard W. Odum & Guy B. Johnson, The Negro and His Songs (1925; reprint Negro Universities Press, 1968, pp. 93-94)
("The song 'Give Me Jesus' was said to have been the product of 'over-free spirit and super-religiousness just after the Civil War. The Negro claims that the white man took him at his word when he sang 'Give me Jesus, You can have all this worl'," and has left him nothing in this world by Jesus. At least this is one view of the song, which is represented as a bargain which the white man wants the Negro to keep. The song is a typical and well-known one, said to have been first sung by a blind Negro preacher.")

GIVE ME JESUS

In de mornin' when I rise,
In de mornin' when I rise,
In de mornin' when I rise,
G5ve me Jesus.

Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus,
You may hab' all dis worl'.

Ef it's midnight when I rise,
Ef it's midnight when I rise,
Ef it's midnight when I rise,
Give me Jesus.

Jes' 'fore day when I cried,
Give me Jesus.

When I wade death's cold stream,
Give me Jesus.

(3) From Olivia and Jack Solomon, "Honey in the Rock": The Ruby Pickens Tartt Collection of Religious Folk Songs from Sumter County, Alabama (Mercer UP, 1991, p. 32)
'A hymn of invitation sung at the end of the sermon when the minister invites church membership or some religious affirmation. Carefully balanced through repetition of text and metrical devices, it presents a natural excellence in language: the "fo'-day prayer" or that devotion just at dawn; "at the end of my row," an expression from field labor, implying both the joy of finishing an arduous task and the despair that comes when one can no longer endure burdens; "O, sinner, you must come down," a reference to both the literal act of coming to the altar or mourner's bench and repentance; "give" is significant--the soul is beyond all help except for Christ who freely gave his life for mankind. See "Give Me Jesus" in Johnson and Johnson, The Book of American Negro Spirituals, 1: 160-61. On the Lomax Library of Congress recordings, "Gimme Jesus" is sung by Dock Reed."

GIMME JESUS

1.
At the 'for-day prayer give me Jesus
At the 'for-day prayer give me Jesus
At the 'for-day prayer give me Jesus,
Oh sinner, you must come down.

-Chorus-
Gimme Jesus, gimme Jesus,
You may have all the world
But give me Jesus.

2.
Oh that good old Daniel, give me Jesus
Oh that good old Daniel, give me Jesus
Oh that good old Daniel, give me Jesus,
Oh sinner, you must come down.

-Chorus-
Gimme Jesus, gimme Jesus,
You may have all the world
But give me Jesus.

3.
At the end of my row give me Jesus
At the end of my row give me Jesus
At the end of my row give me Jesus
Oh sinner, you must come down.

(4) Sheet music ("Give me Jesus") by Charles Lange (Saint Louis: Balmer & Weber, 1883) is in Music for the Nation: American Sheet Music, 1870-1885 (Library of Congress).

(5) CDs (available at present) containing this spiritual are: CLICK HERE

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME JESUS
From: masato sakurai
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 12:02 PM

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 12:47 PM

In the 1883 sheet music by Lange, there are subtle changes that affect the tenor and significance of the music given to the spiritual in Johnson and in Negro Spirituals, or the Songs of the Jubilee Singers. The lyrics are considerably changed. Lange undoubtedly used the spiritual as a springboard for his rewrite, which may be regarded as a gospel tune.

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Dicho (Frank Staplin)
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 01:01 PM

In the 1883 sheet music by Lange, there are subtle changes that affect the tenor and significance of the music given to the spiritual in Johnson and in Negro Spirituals, or the Songs of the Jubilee Singers. The lyrics are considerably changed. Lange undoubtedly used the spiritual as a springboard for his rewrite, which may be regarded as a gospel tune.

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: masato sakurai
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 01:03 PM

Dicho, I agree with you.
~Masato

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Whistleworks
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 01:39 PM

Thank you so much, one and ALL for jumping on this so quickly and efficiently. I now have just what I need for the liner note.

You people are the best.

Warmest regards,

Bob Pegritz

Subject: ADD Version Give Me Jesus'
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 07:27 PM

Wait- you haven't heard the Old Regular Baptist version yet! My Thomas Hymnal (Elder E.D. Thomas) published his collection in 1877. I have sung this all my life:

GIVE ME JESUS

While wandring to and fro
In this wide world of woe,
Where streams of sorrow flow,
Give me Jesus.

Cho: Give me Jesus, give me Jesus-
You may have all this world- give me Jesus!

When tears o'erflow mine eye,
When pressed by grief I sigh,
Still this shall be my cry: Give me Jesus.

Though strength and friends should fail,
And foes my soul assail,
Through Him I shall prevail- give me Jesus.

When Heaven and earth shall flee,
When time shall cease to be;
Through all eternity, give me Jesus.

There are eight verses in all- I chose these four to give a sense of the song. I thought I had recorded it somewhere, but can't find it yet. The tune is much-decorated and lovely.

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: masato sakurai
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 07:54 PM

Jean, we haven't! Here's another one.

GIVE ME JESUS
("Found in the Boston Wesleyan Psalmist of 1842, p. 53. A variant in the New York State Revivalist (No. 89) 26 years later is reproduced in Spiritual Folk-Songs, No. 208. It looks a bit like an individually composed gospel hymn of the Sunday-Scool sort")

When I'm happy hear me cry,
When I'm happy hear me cry,
When I'm happy hear me cry;
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus, give me Jesus,
You may have all the world,
Give me Jesus

(George Pullen Jackson, White and Negro Spirituals, 1944; Da Capo, 1975, p. 180)

~Masato

Subject: Lyr Add: GIVE ME JESUS
From: masato sakurai
Date: 18 Feb 02 - 08:54 PM

GIVE ME JESUS

When I'm happy, hear me sing,
When I'm happy, hear me sing,
When I'm happy, hear me sing,
Give me Jesus;
Give me Jesus,
Give me Jesus;
You may have all the world,
Give me Jesus.

When in sorrow, hear me pray, three times
Give me Jesus, etc.

When I'm dying, hear me cry, three times
Give me Jesus, etc.

When I'm rising, hera me shout, three times
Give me Jesus, etc.

When in heaven, we will sing, three times
Blessed Jesus, etc.

By thy grace we are saved, three times
Blessed Jesus, etc.

"The noting of this tune, evidently from oral tradition, will be seen as quite faulty. A close variant of the song was found by Miss Gilchrist in the Wesleyan Psalmist and reproduced by her, JFSS, viii., 88. 'Sweet William and Lady Margaret', Davis, p. 570, is similar throughout to this tune. A negro version is in Marsh, p. 140, under the same title. The compilers of Slave Songs rejected a song called 'Give Me Jesus' as "spurious", that is, as being of white origin. (See Slave Songs, p. vi.)" (Goerge Pullen Jackson, Spiritual Folk-Songs of Early America, 1937; Dover, 1964, p. 210; with tune)

Obviously, the Charles Lange version (see above) is a variant; the tunes are quite similar, too. Slave Song of the United States is online (CLICK HERE).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Haruo
Date: 19 Feb 02 - 12:58 AM

Jean, if you want to have your son Jon whip up a MIDI of whatever tune you've sung that to "all your life", I'd be happy to post it in similar format to the job I did on your Old Regular Baptist Amazing Grace tune.

Liland

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 19 Feb 02 - 07:18 PM

Liland, I'll see if he can find the time... I'm sorry to be so uninformed about your interests/profession. Is your involvement in hymns part of your life work, your day job, or just something you like doing? Are you writing? Publishing? Recording? I guess I could ask the same about Masato Sakurai, and others. My own involvement is very informal and non-scholarly- the old hymns have just been a part of life for me.

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: Haruo
Date: 19 Feb 02 - 07:35 PM

Thanks, Jean. Basically, I enjoy hymns (and folk music, and the areas where they intersect); I have put a fair amount of time and effort into translating hymns into Esperanto (my "tongue of choice"), and 13 of my texts (10 translations and 3 originals) made it into the newest, largest Esperanto hymnal, Adoru. And I am the compiler/editor of the largest online collection of Esperanto hymns (sort of the Esperanto imitation of The Cyber Hymnal), TTT-Himnaro Cigneta. Oops, gotta run (the library computer I'm using is about to kick me off.)

Liland

Subject: RE: Info on 'Give Me Jesus'
From: kytrad (Jean Ritchie)
Date: 21 Feb 02 - 08:43 PM

Thanks, Liland- I realized after I had posted that this was a very personal intrusion, in addition to being Thread Creep (sort of). I should have PMed. Sorry- but it's all very interesting, what people do! I'll get Jon to send the melody out to you tomorrow. Jean